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Education
In AD42
Britain, from the Humber River to the Firth of Forth, was
ruled by a coalition of Celtic tribes called the Brigantes.
In AD43 the Romans invaded. Eighteen years later the Roman
governor of Britain, Quintus Petillius Cerialis invaded Brigantia
and established a camp, which, after subduing the Brigantes,
became a permanent fortress. This was called Eboracum, and
it was based where the Rivers Ouse and Foss meet - where modern
York is now.
 At
the height of Roman power, the fortress enclosed 50 acres
and housed a garrison of 6000 soldiers. The civilian town
grew steadily and Eboracum became one of the major cities
of the Roman Empire. The Romans stayed for over 300 years
before moving all their troops to Gaul around AD400. Eboracum
became Eoforwic and it was ruled by the Anglo-Saxons until
the arrival, in AD866, of Ivar the Boneless and his Danish
Vikings.
While
the Anglo-Saxons were in the middle of a civil war, Ivar the
Boneless and his Vikings captured York on the 1st November
866. Halfdan, the Viking King renamed the city, Jorvik. The
Viking warriors slowly settled down and became farmers and
the city became an important river port and part of the Viking
trading routes of northern Europe. The city was redesigned
and the city walls were extended. Eric the Bloodaxe, Jorvik's
final ruler, was chased from the city by King Eadred of Wessex
in 954, who united Wessex and Northumbria. The Viking period
was over. King Harold II of England defeated a Norwegian army
at Stamford Bridge (about 8 miles from York) in 1066, unfortunately
for Harold he was killed three weeks later by William the
Conqueror's Norman invasion at the Battle of Hastings. England
had a new King.
York
continued to develop, its fortunes rose and fell, but it wasn't
until the advent of the railways that York again became a
place of importance. George Hudson, an entrepreneur, connected
the city to the emerging railways in east and west Yorkshire
in 1839. He was responsible for promoting the idea of railways
and generating the interest and capital needed to get them
built. Within ten years York was a major railway centre and
by the start of the twentieth century the railways employed
nearly six thousand people. The railways helped promote other
industries notably Terry's Confectionary Works and Rowntree's
Cocoa Works.
Today
York still has a manufacturing industry, and is also one of
the biggest tourist attractions in the region. The Jorvik
Viking Centre and the National Railway Museum are two of the
biggest attractions for the thousands of visitors, mainly
from Europe, East Asia and North America. The Jorvik museum
was built on the site of the largest Viking find to be excavated
from the city in the mid 1980's. The city walls, which were
rebuilt during Victorian times, still ring circle quarters
of the city, which now houses all the modern shopping facilities
you would expect to find. Most of the residents of York live
in the outskirts of the city, where you can also find York
Racecourse. This is now one of the best racecourses in Britain,
with the Ebor meet every summer, it will host Royal Ascot
this summer. York may no longer be the capital of Britain,
or even the capital of the North, but it's still a great city.
Try
to answer the following questions about York.
1. Where is York?
2. What was the name of York's last Viking ruler?
3. When did the railways arrive in York?
4. How many different names has York had?
5. What special event is York hosting this year?
Note down different periods in the history of your
hometown.
What were the main features of these periods?
Write
sentences about your town using the following useful expressions:
the main…area of the town lies within walking
distance of
built on the site on the outskirts well worth a visit/visiting
tend to be cater for those who enjoy
In English,
some words often occur together. They can be nouns and adjectives,
nouns or verbs and prepositions, or verbs and adverbs. Look
at the two columns of words in the below. Match two words
that appear together in the article.
a manufacturing 1 war
b grew 2 facilities
c tourist 3 features
d ruled 4 cities
e responsible 5 attractions
f civil 6 industry
g major 7 by
h main 8 steadily
I well 9 for
j shopping 10 worth
Towns can be convenient places to live because they have many
facilities. They also have their own special problems. What
are the following words, problems or facilities? Which does
your town benefit/suffer from? Check in a dictionary.
vandalism sports nightlife cultural
educational catering transport traffic jams
slums overcrowding pollution crime
Use you
dictionary to check on any other words in the text that are
new to you. Look up how to pronounce it and how to use it
in a sentence. Can the word be used in other forms, as a verb,
as a noun, as an adjective?
Can you
think of three words that would go with each of the nouns
below? Make words for things you would find in a town. The
first one has been done for you as an example.
When you
have finished check in a dictionary.
a . .........National..............................................
..........Liberation War Museum
Ethnological
b) ..........................................................
..........................................................
centre
..........................................................
c) ..........................................................
..........................................................club
..........................................................
d) ..........................................................
..........................................................college
..........................................................
e) ..........................................................
..........................................................court
..........................................................
f) ..........................................................
..........................................................agency
..........................................................
Useful
weblinks: http://www.nrm.org.uk/html/home_pb/menu.asp
http://www.britainexpress.com/History/battles/stamford-bridge.htm
Answers
1.
The north of England.
2. Eric the Bloodaxe
3. 1839
4. Four
5. Royal Ascot
a-6, b-8, c-5, d-7, e-9, f-1, g-4, h-3, i-10, j-2
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(R) thedailystar.net 2005
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